Top seed Justine Henin survived a big scare of her career to reach the
quarter-finals of the Dubai Open tennis tournament on Wednesday.
![](xin_1302042214221392252767.jpg) Belgium's Justine Henin returns the
ball to Austria's Tamira Paszek during their match at the Dubai Open
Tennis Championships February 21, 2007. [Reuters] ![](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/image_e/insertphotomore.gif) |
The Belgian took two hours and 28 minutes
to beat 16-year-old Tamira Paszek of Australia 4-6, 7-5 and 6-1, rallying back
from one set down and a break point in the second set.
However, Henin survived when 127th-ranked Paszek netted a forehand, and the
holder then broke to take the set when Paszek made a backhand error.
After beating a break point in the opening game of the third set, Henin broke
Paszek to love to lead 2-0, and a further break for 5-1.
"I was pretty close to losing that match," Henin said, "she played very well
and I wasn't very comfortable on the court and was far away from my best level."
The Belgian, who split from her husband last month, hit nine double-faults.
"She doesn't have the kind of game that I like so much," said Henin, "but it
was a good one to start. I probably need this kind of match right now and I'm
very happy that I won this one and have another chance tomorrow."
Second seed Amelie Mauresmo of France eased past Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-2
while Russian third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat American Meghann Shaughnessy
6-1 and 7-6.
Fourth seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland was stretched by Spain's Anabel
Medina Garrigues, taking two hours and 40 minutes to win 5-7, 6-3 and 6-4, and
fifth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic overcame Italy's Mara Santangelo 6-3 and 7-5.
Sixth seed Patty Schnyder and eight-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova both
struggled for over two hours before winning.
Swiss left-hander Schnyder needed five match points to close out her 4-6, 6-2
and 6-4 win over Australia's Alicia Molik, and Hantuchova edged over Russia's
Maria Kirilenko 2-6, 6-4 and 7-6.
In another long struggle, Eleni Daniilidou of Greece took two hours and 37
minutes to beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 5-7, 6-1 and 7-5.